LSU at Florida postponed

No word on if they'll play it sometime down the road. No idea if this'll make any difference in our game, that is still slated to kickoff at 7:30 on Saturday night.

Also, LSU finally got out of the Florida crossover game. Well played Coach O.
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Real Talk: Georgia played Alabama closer than LSU did

Look, we have a narrative to keep up, but let's be honest about things: Alabama is a very good football team, especially when it looks like everyone is willing to write them off.

And they are absolutely loaded for bear against teams that want to run against them. Case in point are LSU and UGA.

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD

10/03/15

@ Georgia

Grass

W 38-10

38

193

5.08

1

11/07/15

9 LSU

Grass

W 30-16

26

54

2.08

1

Even taking Fournette (18 yards) and Chubb's (83 yards) longest runs, UGA still gains over a yard and a half more per carry. The passing stats favor LSU slightly, but mostly because of the interception numbers. Honestly, those turnovers and the blocked punt are the only difference in the two performances, if you ask me.

There is no doubt LSU is a better team than Georgia. I'm not close to arguing that. I am saying that no one is claiming LSU crapped the bed against Alabama. They got beat. Just like UGA did.

Which brings me to my last point: our offense has been a disaster at times, but we are a middle of the road SEC team more because of our inability to protect the football, especially on special teams. If we go the rest of this season without giving up a special teams TD of some sort, it'll be a miracle.

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Mark Richt has lost control of ESPN's stupidity

This hurts my head:

GEORGIA (7-2, 5-2) 
Remaining schedule: Saturday vs. No. 9 Auburn, Nov. 22 vs. Charleston Southern, Nov. 29 vs. No. 22 Georgia Tech 
Chances of winning out: 19.1 percent 
The case for: The best player in the SEC is back on Georgia’s sidelines. WithTodd Gurley's return, the Bulldogs' offense just got that much more explosive. Not that Nick Chubb was sliced meat or anything. But with those two running the football and that offensive line, Georgia has a chance to stay in any game. The question is whether the defense can stop the run long enough to keep them in it. 
The case against: Setting aside Georgia’s defensive woes, what about the play of the quarterback? Hutson Mason was never going to be Aaron Murray, but he was supposed to be better than this. He has been efficient (15 touchdowns, three interceptions), but he has also thrown for the 84th fewest yards of any quarterback in the country. Without the threat of a vertical passing game, Georgia’s offense has a low ceiling. Without a stout defense, there is not much to make up for it. 

Especially when you consider the same author was praising LSU's recruiting 11 days ago, but not recognizing Mason is on par with the combined effort of both LSU qbs. As for that other part of offense, Georgia is out rushing LSU by 35+ yards per game. And outscoring the Tigers by 13ppg.

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3 questions answered: LSU

So the questions hit the nail on the head this week. Even the prediction was eerily on point:

"If we make LSU put the game in the hands of Mett and LSU's passing game, we'll end up winning."

The answers:

1. Can we slow down LSU's run game? Yes. Lord, yes. Our run defense strategy was dead on. We tackled cleanly. Drove through hits, kept the offensive line moving the wrong way, nearly always maintained our gaps. The only fault in the running game was on two different goal line situations, we sold out on the dive without accounting for the zone toss. Give Cam Cameron credit for the play calls there, but we have to watch that going forward.
2. Will we screw up something in special teams? Dude, this might be the biggest hidden factor in the game, especially considering we won by 3. For my money, kicking the ball out of the end zone is always better than putting the ball in the hands of Odell Beckham, Jr. However, we did a very good job covering him. And LSU ended up making the special teams mistake. Very solid all around play.
3. Will our crowd make a difference? I can't say enough about Saturday's crowd. While Les Miles is the one coach in the SEC that will give his fan base more heartburn over timeout and clock management than Mark Richt, at least two of his TOs were due to crowd noise. We (the Royal We) were loud and in the game. Just spectacular.

We've still got some stuff to fix, especially on defense. I don't think we'll score 38+ points per game all season, but At some point we'll need more than a stop on a final drive to win. If our offense keeps playing at this level, we'll continue to be a very dangerous team. We are going into the part of the season where some style points might be needed and earned, beginning this weekend on the road in Knoxville.

We roll 500+ yards and 40+ points on them, while not allowing the game to be a nail biter, that'll put folks on notice that we're a for real player in end of season scenarios.

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Pictures of the Week: Winning is like, better than losing

Photos courtesy of Jim Hipple.

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LSU in photos: The Defense

All photos courtesy of Jim Hipple.

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LSU Game in Pictures: The Offense

All photos are courtesy of Jim Hipple. 

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Mad Props to the Student Section

Seriously, all y'all brought the pain. Just a spectacular showing. For what has to be fixed about the down market games, you got it right this week.

All of you are Damn Good Dawgs.
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PS. And some alumni were standing up during the game, too!

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Sunday Morning Comes: LSU

Yeah, I know it is Monday morning, but between Saturday's epic tailgate and all the folks we had over for brunch on Sunday that turned into a full on day long mimosa fest....

Any way, I was way wrong about stopping LSU's run game. We did a great job slowing it down. We forced Mett into having to beat us. He nearly did. However, Murray decided to put cement on top of the grave that the 'Murray can't win the big game' meme was in with a 75 yard drive to win the game.

I tweeted this was the best game I've ever seen at Sanford Stadium. I still believe that. While there have been games that we might have played a more complete game in, there wasn't one that was more exciting, with the crowd in it from the beginning, with the ending like we saw. Just spectacular.

1. The offensive line is back. At least for a game. Murray didn't get sacked. We ran for 196 yards. LSU came in with 7 sacks. They left with 7 sacks. All that against a very good Dline. They are really coming together. At least for a game.
2. So, about the defense, part one. I couldn't have asked for better run protection. Hill got his 4.3 ypc, but with the sacks, LSU ends up with just 77 yards of rushing. Josh Harvey-Clemson, Ramik Wilson, Floyd, Matthews. Garrison Damn Smith. Welcome to the future of Georgia's defense. Except for the zone toss. They ate our lunch in goal line situations with that play. Damn. 
3. So, about the defense, part two. And then the passing defense, right? Swann looked completely lost at times. Not sure what is going on there, but he looked worse than Langley, and it wasn't close. That drag play had too many line backers chasing and not enough covering. Our zone coverage looks broken. We end up with guys going the wrong direction, we don't play physical enough coming off the line, especially on big WRs. Our best play on obvious passing downs, right now, is to bring the house in the pass rush and force the QB to make a rushed throw. Give a QB like Mett time, he'll find a seam or something. Thankfully, we don't play another QB that good for a while. Regretfully, our pass D can make an average QB look pretty good. Oh, but we did cover the wheel route, so we have that going for us.
4. Aaron Murray shouldn't be missing D line men dropping into coverage. Two of his three INTs are due to linemen dropping into coverage. 
5. Special Teams are Special. If you had LSU muffing a punt, us hitting a 55 yard FG, and Beckham only getting one kick past the 30, while we didn't do any thing to help them with Special Teams, raise your hand. Yeah, you are lying.
6. What happened to our fullbacks? No really. What happened?

The crowd was a loud as I've heard. Ever. Just an incredible game. I'll have more on the defense later in the week, by the way. 

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Saturday was Best Football Day

Yesterday was a perfect storm of awesome. Beautiful weather. Great crowd. Terrific tailgate atmosphere. When I got to campus about 6:30, there were people lined up like they were giving away booze. Crazy. I'll have more on the crowd later, but mad props to the students for showing up way early and leading the stadium's atmosphere.

I had friends trying to get tickets that said the price never fell below $150, if you could find anyone with tickets for sale. That was after kickoff. Just a nuts market. As hard as the 2008 Alabama game, at least.

Also, to my LSU bros, thanks for keeping your crap together. The LSU invitees at our tailgate were gracious, fun, and most importantly, didn't smell of corn dogs. No one got out of line, even at the game. Besides their attempts to infect our food and set up with LSU themed items, they were as fun and friendly as you could hope. I hate that I had to throw away all those paper towels, the food, and cups, but I did give you fair warning that was going to happen if you put that crap on my table.

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Quick thoughts on a Sunday

I'll have more later, but there were three things that stood out to me:

1. I was wrong about Mett's ability to carry LSU. See below about Georgia's defense, but he did enough to keep LSU in the game. His throws on consecutive 3rd and 20+ backed against the goal line were just nuts.
2. Our defense isn't ready for prime time.
3. GameDay has nothing to do with Georgia's success of lack thereof in these games. That is all.

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LSU is here

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Commit to the G

I haven't been this excited about a tailgate and game in a long time. Get your asses over here.

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There is no Plan B

As the coffee perks, a couple of last minute thoughts:

• It would be glorious if this is like that 2004 game.
• I'm getting more an more excited about Murray working against LSU's DBs.
• I'm getting more and more nervous about Hill and the middle of our line.
• I'm sure you've seen, but the GameDay guest pickers at Bubba Watson and some dude from West Monroe, LA. 

Bring it loud for Paul Oliver. RIP.

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3 Questions: LSU

1. Can we slow down LSU's run game? Jeremy Hill can be a game changer. His performance against Auburn (25 rushes for 184 yards) was quite impressive. However, Auburn committed to stopping the run. Hill had 38 yards in the second half on 11 runs. There is no mistaking that little stat changed a 21-0 blow out to a 35-21 game that had LSU relying on the clock running out.
2. Will we screw up something in special teams? We can't give up two special teams TDs and win this game. We can't give up long returns. We can't miss FGs. We can't botch punt snaps. We can't botch FG snaps. We can't miss recovering onside kick attempts. 
3. Will our crowd make a difference? We've been in a couple of these games already this season. The closest LSU has been to that is the season opening game at Jerry World against TCU. TCU is a good team and the crowd was semi-pro TCU, but this is the first true test for Mett's ability to handle adversity, the LSU defense to adjust to a quick strike defense, and LSU's ability to deal with a loud road stadium. Georgia's had to do all of that is some shape or form this season already. 

I feel good about our chances tomorrow. We have to slow down their rushing game. If we make LSU put the game in the hands of Mett and LSU's passing game, we'll end up winning. If we can't, look for it to be like the Clemson game.

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Hills + LSU fans = Fail

Gotta love tailgating with folks that think 7am Friday is too late to get started.

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Baton Rouge Advocate on why LSU should leave the SEC

Quite a South Carolina exercise. Not sure how I missed it, but this is about the Tigers getting picked to go to the Peach Bowl and published in December.

The time has come.
Imbalanced, arbitrary football schedules, unfavorable bowl politics and a conference office that frequently indicates it is ignoring LSU’s concerns and needs have led the school and its athletic program to this point:
It is time to consider seceding from the Southeastern Conference.

Where, pray tell, will they go? The Big 12, of course. One of the reasons they cite is Alabama's dominance of the conference.

Wonder if Texas A&M might have some advice for them about a conference with one really powerful player?

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"I quit counting at 10."

Does it surprise you that Tyrann Mathieu uttered that about the number of drug tests he failed?

I think the bigger question is raised about what was going on at LSU.

But 10 failed drugs tests? Should we be looking at what the heck was going on at LSU? 

"If he flunked 10 tests before they suspended him, it shows that he got no kind of help," the anonymous coach told USA Today.

Say what you will about the randomness of Georgia's testing policies and how tough the actual disciplinary approach is, at least the policies are applied consistently and with the idea of helping the players. If he failed ten tests, he probably should have been in counseling after the third, at a minimum. LSU's polices indicate a "15% of games" penalty for the second failed test and one year dismissal for the third.

Hey, we can bash Richt for losing control after a couple of failed tests. Does Miles get a pass for keeping a star eligible outside of the polcies? I realize the timing could be an issue, but I can't think he suddenly failed ten test the summer before his senior season.
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SEC West Representative to the SEC Championship - Scenario Breakdown

The simplest and most likely answer is Alabama. All they have to do is win the Iron Bowl to clinch the West. Saban doesn't believe in trap games.

For discussion sake, however, there are other possibilities.  Right now Texas A&M and LSU are not mathematically eliminated.  Both have 2 losses. TAMU is 5-2, with their game against Missouri at home to end the season. LSU is 4-2, with Ole Miss visiting Baton Rouge this weekend, and the Tigers ending the regular season on the Friday after Thanksgiving at Arkansas.

With that in mind, let's go on a flight of fancy and say Alabama loses to Auburn. Besides the Intertubes melting and someone needing to keep sharp stuff away from Finebaum, here are the possible outcomes based on my understanding of the SEC divisional tie-break rules:

For Alabama to go to Atlanta: Have TAMU lose to Missouri AND LSU win out. If Alabama, LSU and TAMU end up in a three way tie, based on the third tiebreaker (division record), Alabama would be out because both of their losses would be in the division, sending LSU based on the head to head win over TAMU. If LSU loses one of their remaining games, but TAMU beats Missouri, TAMU would go based on Alabama's loss this past weekend.

For TAMU to go to Atlanta:  Beat Missouri and have LSU lose one of their games. If they end up in a three way tie, LSU goes because Alabama would be eliminated, then they would go to the head to head, which LSU won.

For LSU to go to Atlanta: Win both games AND end in a three way tie. There is no scenario that has them going without a three way tie.

All the above scenarios also assume Texas A&M and Alabama beat their respective patsies this weekend. Alabama controls their own fate. However, if Auburn gives Chizik a going away present huge upset, utter chaos.

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Dazed and Confused 2: Headed to McNeese

If you aren't following @cuppycup, you are missing out.

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